The Abertis Foundation is sponsoring the largest retrospective ever on the British artist Richard Hamilton. The exhibit will be housed at Madrid’s Reina Sofía Museum from 27 June to 13 October 2014. Richard Hamilton himself, one of the most influential artists of the 20th Century, designed the show specifically for the museum, directly working with the Spanish institution from early 2010 until prior to his death in 2011.
Part of the exhibition was shown recently in London’s Tate Modern, curated by Vicente Todolí and Paul Schimmel, where it was applauded by both critics and the public alike. The retrospective brings together around 270 works (paintings, engravings, drawings, photographs, computer printings, industrial design works and his remakes) spanning over 60 years (between 1949 and 2011). The body of artwork showcases the extraordinary variety of materials, techniques and genres that feature in Hamilton’s pieces, as well as the relevance and influence of his revolutionary work, still very pertinent today.
Visitors will be treated to the most stand-out pieces of Hamilton’s career, such as his collage Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing?, a photomontage considered one of the earliest pieces of pop art. Among his most famous and most iconic creations exhibited are the cover for the Beatle’s White Album and the series Swingeing London 67, in which Hamilton, often associated with the turbulent 1960s, painted Mick Jagger handcuffed to the art dealer Robert Fraser following their court appearance on drug charges.
Hamilton’s series My Marilyn, Interior, The Solomon R. Guggenheim and replicas of Duchamp’s works are also showcased in the exhibition, as are the recreations of five era-defining installations designed by or in collaboration with Hamilton, closely following his instructions. Some of these mark the pinnacle of pop art (An exhibit; This is tomorrow). The installation Growth and Form (1951) will be reconstructed for the first time.
Hamilton’s last piece, an untitled work, will be spotlighted in the exhibition, a reflection of the artist’s relationship with design, painting, photography, technology and television. Also on show are his collaborations with other artists, such as the portraits of Hamilton painted by Francis Bacon, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.
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